Google to expand Chromebook availability

Google is pushing its Chromebook laptop range to more retailers around the UK, Europe and US in a bid to get more traction.

The company announced its intentions to increase Chromebook availability three-fold on the official Google blog.

Over in the US, retail giant Walmart will be adding the latest Acer Chromebook to the rosters of its 2,800 nationwide shops. Staples will be adding a whole range of Chromebooks from Acer, HP and Samsung to each of its US shops.

Google is also making moves here in the UK. In addition to Dixons, the country's biggest supermarket chain Tesco has started offering Chromebooks at 116 of its stores.

Holland's Media Markt and Saturn shops, France's FNA and Sweden's Elgiganten will take up the European expansion, while in Australia all JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman shops will start to stock Chromebooks.

In addition, Google promises to bring its Chromebooks to more countries beyond the current ten "later this year."

As Google puts it, Chromebooks are "a fast, simple, secure laptop that won't break the bank." In general they are cheap and compact laptops that run on Google's lightweight and online-focused Chrome OS, which used Google apps for key functions like document creation, email and of course web browsing.

In addition, Google recently launched the Chromebook Pixel - a high-end champion that sports a Macbook-like design and advanced specs.